ArcWatch: GIS News, Views, and Insights

By Carla WheelerArcWatch Editor

Maps that will be used to help fight disease, lift people out of poverty, and provide humanitarian aid after natural disasters are being created by Youth Mappers chapters, a fledgling network of student mappers around the world. This cadre of crowdsourcers is tracing features onto maps by using aerial imagery, while others are gathering on-site data such as road names. The maps will be used for projects supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Read the article.

Students gather for a mapathon at the George Washington University Spatial Analysis Lab.

Security is paramount. This tip teaches you how to run the serverScan.py tool to verify that your ArcGIS Server site has been configured to follow the security best practices that Esri recommends. Read the tip.

The Headlines

Esri will host an indoor drone demonstration at the Esri Imaging & Mapping Forum this summer. You will get to watch operators maneuver the machines and learn how drone imagery can be turned into products you can visualize and analyze in ArcGIS. Read the article.

Trees in the city face a barrage of threats, from disease-carrying pests to windstorms that break limbs. The Urban Forestry Administration in Washington, DC, uses GIS to mitigate hazards and keep trees healthy and safe. Read the article.

Whether you want to see the latest and greatest in GIS technology or take ArcGIS training for free, the Esri User Conference (Esri UC) delivers exciting, educational experiences. View the story map. Register for the Esri UC.

The Geospatial Report

See how the 2014 South Napa earthquake nudged the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to move from paper-based to digital mapping. "The Napa earthquake showed us the power of visualizing information," said Jose Lara, Cal OES.
Watch the video.

Henrico County Division of Fire uses ArcGIS to manage operations during NASCAR races at the Richmond International Raceway in Virginia. "You have the latest and greatest map, and information is updated in real time," said Robert Rowley, Henrico County Division of Fire. Watch the video.

Tech Time

This Esri Story Map highlights a variety of predominance maps, such as election, household income, and education level maps, and shows you how to start making your own using smart mapping in ArcGIS. Explore the predominance maps.

Get your creative mapping juices flowing. Submit up to three story maps in the Esri Storytelling with Maps contest by May 23, 2016. The grand prize: a free trip to the Esri User Conference. Enter today.

The Last Word

Esri cartographic product engineer Lisa Berry offers a quick overview of the benefits of contributing data to the Living Atlas of the World. To learn how to furnish your information, stop by the Living Atlas of the World booth at the 2016 Esri User Conference.
Watch the video.

Esri's chief technology evangelist Bern Szukalski is interviewed in an episode of Geogeeks in Cars Going for Coffee. He discusses the GeoHub concept, Esri Story Map, and Drone2Map for ArcGIS. Watch the video.